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Howth YC Under 25 team lift Irish
National title
(Howth, Ireland)- Howth Yacht Club hosted the recent J/24 Irish
Championships, an event which was both a warm-up for Irish competitors and a
fine tune for the race management team, in advance of the imminent BMW J/24
World Championship. With the top three determined by just one point, it's
indicative of how close the class has become competitively amongst its top
practitioners!
Saturday morning saw the fleet held ashore for a few hours by PRO David
Lovegrove due to high winds. Nobody wanted to risk serious damage a week out
from the main event. The later start still allowed the 20 entrants from
Ireland, Great Britain and USA to enjoy four races held in a variety of
conditions. Sun, rain, squalls, flat calms, big shifts and a changing tide all
created a very unusual mix for Howth. As one race official noted, "If you
don't like the weather, hang on for five minutes!"
In spite of the weather challenges, GBR visitors IL RICCIO
(Italian for "The Hedgehog") sailed by Ian Southworth dominated the
first day and headed for the bar with a 1-2-1-1 score. Just behind them was
fellow Brit Bob Turner on SERCO with a 5-1-3-3 and Ireland's Flor O'Driscoll
sailing HARD ON PORT into third with a 3-5-5-10. The top Americans all
had great scores, save for bad drop races, like Keith Whittemore's FURIO from
Seattle, Washington and Tony Parker's BANGOR PACKET from Georgetown, DC.
Top of the Irish boats at that stage was Howth's Mossy Shanahan who bagged a
tasty 2-10-4-7. The dividends were paid to those who played relatively
conservatively and kept their noses clean.
Lighter and less
variable conditions treated the fleet to incredibly tight racing on Sunday with
another four races banged off in quick time. By the end of Race 6, IL RICCIO
had sewn up the regatta, pocketing a further two wins, not needing to race in
the last two. A clinical display of extraordinary seamanship and sailing! The
fleet did its best to push the 3PM deadline for a last start by forcing a
general recall in the penultimate race. Taking second for the regatta was
Seattle's Keith Whittemore on FURIO, posting a 2-2-1.5-1- in the last four
races to nearly pull off the ultimate upset sailing the last day, losing by
just a 0.5 pts. Third was the UK's Bob Turner on SERCO just another 0.5 pts
back!! Rounding out the closely fought top five were Tony Parker's BANGOR
PACKET crew in fourth and the Brit's JIGGY 2 led by Paul Williams in fifth.
Irish National title winner was the HYC Under 25 crew sailing EURO CAR PARKS
KILCULLEN followed by Flor O'Driscoll's team HARD ON PORT in second and taking
third Irish Nats on the podium was the Darrer/ Murphy team on the old STOUCHE.
With a calendar of coaching and tweaking, polishing and measuring, ahead of the
J/24 Worlds, the Howth will be a beehive of activity this week. Many of the
visitors have threatened golf outings, punctuated by busy evenings in local
hostelries and pubs!! Story contributed from Emmet Dalton. Sailing photos credits- Tom Gruitt For more Irish J/24 Nationals sailing information
(Huntington Lake, California)- The 60th High Sierras Regatta took place, as
always, on one of the most remote and scenic venues on the west coast -
Huntington Lake in the High Sierras of California. Hosted and run by Fresno Yacht
Club volunteers, the regatta spans two weekends, the first on July 6-7 and the
second on July 13-14. The first weekend was made up of Centerboard
Classes, with the second featuring mostly larger keelboats. The number of boats
each weekend is limited by the US Forest Service, so entries are always on a
first-come first-serve basis.
Over the past six decades, the High Sierra Regatta has had more than its fair
share of Olympic gold medalists and National champions sailing in the event.
The consistent winds, sunny days and beautiful scenery attract sailors from all
over the country; sailing on fresh water in Central California's biggest lake
regatta is hard to beat!
The first day of racing
on Saturday saw 100+ keel boats on the water. Imagine that many boats of
wildly different speeds and sizes sharing a lake that is only 2.25 square miles
long-- an anxiety attack mid-course is not in the cards if you want to sail
well in this regatta! Like clockwork, the breeze built in time for the races to
start at 10:55am, nearly the same time every day.
Competitors saw gusts up to 19 kts towards the top of the lake and lows of 6-8
kts towards the bottom. The wind was very puffy and shifty and it typically
favored the south shore breeze. Boats that were able to stay in phase on the
south shore and play most of the shifts made out over the boats playing the
middle or the north shore.
On Sunday the wind was pretty similar to Saturday, very puffy and shifty,
favoring the south shore again. With most boats short-tacking up the south
shore and the breeze dissipating as you go up the lake, there was a lot of
disturbed air. This was where "heroes became zeroes" and were shot
out the back. The boats that could stay out of disturbed air and avoid
the holes along the shore were able to minimize their losses. Some boats
played it conservatively and found large, shifting breeze lanes going out
across the lake in breeze.
PHRF B fleet saw the J/24 and J/22 do battle with a cast of Olson 25s and Merit
25s. When all was said and done, Pat Bradley's J/24 OLD AND IN THE WAY
took 2nd overall and Greg Greenlee's J/22 TEKEELA took third overall in class.
Bob Crooks J/80 WASAABI enjoyed their weekend on the lake and took 7th in PHRF
A fleet. They just nipped out classmate Jim Powell sailing his J/27
LEVITY, who took 8th in class. Sailing photo credits- Eric Zamora- The Fresno Bee
For more High Sierras Regatta sailing information
(Dillon, Colorado)- Billed as the world’s highest regatta at 9,017 ft
above sea level, racing for the Dillon Open Regatta takes place on beautiful
Dillon Reservoir in Dillon, Colorado, where sailors enjoy mostly sunny days and
spectacular views of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. The regatta is
hosted by the Dillon Yacht Club, the nation’s highest yacht club at 9,017 feet
above sea level, located near the Continental Divide, a 70 mile drive west on
I-70 from downtown Denver.
As Scott Spurlin from J/Boats Southwest once said, “It's been called the
"Most dangerous Regatta in America", the "Highest Regatta in
America", and the "Largest In-Land Lake Regatta West of the
Mississippi". No matter what the claim-- the Dillon Open Regatta is a lot
of fun!”
Think you're good at reading the wind? Lake Dillon would certainly
test your skills! Mountains and valleys with rapidly changing weather again
kept the tacticians on their toes this year! With winds rolling down the
steep mountain sides along the lakefront (or the occasional micro-burst blowing
down vertically out of clear blue sky), the faster (and sometimes luckier)
crews had a field day picking up windshifts and breeze lines to work themselves
to the front of the fleet.
For well over 25 years, the J/24s from around the Midwest (as well
as refugees from the heat in the Deep South) have made their annual migration
to sail in the warm and friendly confines of Lake Dillon, nestled cozily in the
Rocky Mountains. Eight J/24 teams made the starting line this year.
It just so happened to be a good "vintage" year for the crew on Greg
& Susan Johnson's PINOTAGE, posting three 1sts in their scoreline on their
way to winning the J/24 class with a 5-1-3-1-1-2-3 record for 16 pts.
Alan Dille's crew on SEPTILLION made a valiant effort to remain in contention,
but two 4ths in races 4 & 6 hurt their chances for a comeback.
Instead, SEPTILLION's 2-3-2-4-24.5-2 for 19.5 pts snagged them a second
overall. Taking two 1sts but not staying at all consistent was Frank
Kelble's team on USA 1966, amassing a 1-5-4-5-4-1-4 for 24 pts to take third on
the podium. The balance of the top five was taken by Doug Pierini on COLD
SMOKE in fourth and Stephen Bergman on EVENT HORIZON in fifth.
The Dillon Open has also bee quite popular with the J/22 class,
this year fielding the largest one-design fleet in the regatta with twelve
participants. Sailing fast out of the starting blocks on the first day
was Mike Kline's NAUTI-MOOSE, taking a 1-1-2-1 to never relinquish the lead for
the rest of the regatta. However, victory clearly did not come easy for
this team. After what appeared to have been premature celebrations taking
place on Saturday night, the "Nauti-Boys" on NAUTI-MOOSE could only
muster a 6-5-2 on the last day to barely hang onto their lead to take class
honors! David Baker's UP FOR AIR started slowly but closed the regatta
with a 1-1-4 to take second overall. Third was Robin Jackson & Kristin
Zagray's BIG BUTT BOAT, closing with a 3-2-1 to show rapid improvement in the
standings to take the silverware for third. Fourth was Stan Strathman's
SCREAMIN J and the "long-distance award" goes to fifth place finisher
Richard Hallagan from Canandaigua YC on New York's Canandaigua
Lake. Sailing photo credits- Greg Schertz For more Dillon Open Regatta sailing information
J/100 Wins Cruising Class, WILD
THING Shocks J/24s
(Padanaram, Massachusetts)- The BBR (as the Buzzards Bay Regatta is commonly
referred to) has long been one of the highlights of the summer sailing season
on Buzzards Bay, and certainly renown as one of the best sailing areas in New
England. Generally sailed in the first weekend of August, the BBR is
blessed with favorable sea-breezes that develop late morning and can often
build from the WSW well into the 15-20 kts range or higher along with enormous
current-induced chop. While not San Francisco Bay or Cascade Locks in
Oregon, it's certainly one of the better "big breeze" venues any
sailor can find along the Eastern seaboard.
The BBR is one of the largest multi-class regattas in America, but
like many others, has been suffering from attendance over time, particularly in
recent years. The dinghy classes (Lasers & 420s) continue to do OK,
but the offshore keelboat classes have diminished quite significantly.
Nevertheless, the army of volunteers and the enthusiasm of the host clubs
ensure the sailors are having a good time ashore (lobster bakes, etc) as well
as have good race management on the water.
This year's event was hosted by the New Bedford Yacht Club from August 2nd to
4th! Thirty-seven keelboats (one-design & offshore) participated over
the three day weekend. Remarkably, nineteen of those boats were J/Teams
from around New England-- J's were by far the dominant brand at the regatta
with 51% of the participants.
In the J/24s, ten races were sailed over the three days, making it
fun sailing for the fleet of eight boats. Jim Ciffolillo on WILD THING
from Beverly YC was in a battle with Sanford Tyler on STRAIGHT JACKET from
Hyannis YC for first place. In the end, WILD THING prevailed with 19 net
pts to take the J/24 crown. Second was STRAIGHT JACKET with 21 pts.
In the fight for third place, Craig Correia's team on QUEEQUEG finished with a
flourish of 1-1-3 to take the last spot on the podium. Settling for
fourth was Nick Kotsatos and Chris Memoli on DARK & STORMY and in fifth was
Bonnie Kirchner on FAST FOOD.
PHRF 1 division had the largest fleet of keelboats at the regatta
with fourteen boats, a welcome change from previous years. Taking second
and third in class were the two talented sailing teams on the J/111's- WICKED
2.0 (skippered by Doug Curtiss) and ODYSSEY (sailed by Fred Van Liew and Dave
Brodsky), respectively. Fourth was the J/122 AUGUST WEST sailed by Jamey
Shachoy. The third J/111, BRAVO skippered by Sedgwick Ward, took seventh
in class. The "other" WICKED, the J/124 sailed by Scott
Bancroft took 8th and Jim Masiero's J/122 URSUS MARITIMUS got the short-end of
the stick on a three-way tie for 9th to settle for 11th. It was a good
showing for the J/Teams, taking 50% of the top ten overall.
PHRF 2 had five J/Teams in a fleet of seven boats. Not surprisingly, the
fleet was pretty much over-run by the J/Teams as they raced around the
track. Taking class honors was local superstar Ted Herlihy sailing his
champion J/109 GUT FEELING. Fourth was Rob Salk's J/109 PICANTE and fifth
was Dan Boyd's J/109 WILD THING.
Like their PHRF 2 counterparts, the PHRF 3 division had seven J
crews sailing in a fleet of ten boats, making life tough for their non-J
competitors. In the end, the well-sailed J/29 MIGHTY PUFFIN skippered by
Steve Thurston from Bristol, RI finished second overall. They were
followed by the J/105s HARDTACK (Matt Schmitt) in fourth and DARK N STORMY
(Andy Reservitz) in fifth. Henry DeGroot's J/80 WIRED took 7th, the J/29
MAS SAILING Team led by Sean McLaughlin took 8th and the J/105 WATERWOLF helmed
by Ed Lobo took 9th.
The best J/PHRF performance goes to the sole J sailing in the PHRF Cruise
division. Those honors go to the J/100 SUNDANCE skippered by Albert Signorella
from the host New Bedford YC. For more Buzzards Bay Regatta sailing information
(Barbados)- Skippered by Ian Mayers, the BANKS ESPERANZA J/24 team continued an
impressive run of form to completely eclipse the J/24 division of the Harris
Paints two-day regatta. It was another show of late-season magic from the
ESPERANZA crew, who also dominated and won the First Citizens Regatta earlier
in the season in Holetown.
In the Harris Paints event, which was also the 30th year of
sponsorship by the company, and which featured shifty winds on the southcoast,
ESPERANZA's slammed nine other rival crews to win three of four races. They
finished fourth in Race 4. “We were looking to make a clean-sweep but we
didn't have a great start in the last race, although we made up some ground.
Our crew is in good form and we proved that we are capable of challenging the
top boats in competition,” said skipper Mayers. Impulse, skippered by
Neil Burke, finished second and HawkEye, skippered by Robert Povey, finished
third overall while also winning Race 4. Fourth was Die Hard, captained by
Robbie Yearwood, and fifth, ISIS, captained by Nicholas Lashley.
The six-member Barbados J/24 Youth team also used last weekend's regatta as
part of their preparation for the for BVI –Premier Cup International regatta
which is being contested in Tortola on Saturday and Sunday( July 12-14).
Significantly, the Harris Paints regatta was the last of six regattas making up
the 2013 Jaguar/ Landrover series in the race for the national championship of
J24 racing in Barbados.
Despite their late season heroics, Esperanza were unable to deny Williams
Industries HawkEye the championship as they pipped them by one point to secure
the right to be called national champions. After six regattas, HawkEye
collected nine points while Esperanza finished the season on ten points, for
second place in the Jaguar/ Landrover series.
HawkEye earlier in the season won the Taylors Cycle Centre regatta , were
second in the Mount Gay regatta in mid-May, and won the Lucky Horseshoe regatta
in early June. “It was a very competitive season. Our main goal was to
win the national championship this year and our crew made it happen. We came
out with a mission and accomplished it,” said Robert Povey, skipper of HawkEye.
Champions in 2012, Impulse finished the season third overall, on 12 points,
while Fully Covered, skippered by Bruce Bailey , finished fourth with 16
points. ISIS, skippered by Lashley, were fifth overall on 26 points.
The Jaguar/ Landrover series is organized by the J/24 Club of Barbados and
President Gregory Webster praised, sponsors, sailors and other partners for
helping to create successful events and an outstanding season. For more J/24 Barbados sailing information
Palio di Anzio Regatta
(Anzio, Italy)- The second edition of the Palio di Anzio J/24 Regatta was won
by Quartiere Lavinio Mare. The crew, skippered by Gianni Riccobono, wins for
the second consecutive year. In second place was from Anzio was Marco
d'Aloisio sailing DON J and third was Massimo Noons at the helm of JULIO CAESAR
with a local crew from Anzio's neighborhood sailing center.
It was a beautiful and historic sailing event blessed by good winds, good race
management and organized by the non-profit organization Palio Anzio. The
event is a celebration of the history of the port of Anzio and the eight
districts that make up the city surround the port.
For some historical perspective, it was in 1761 that Cardinal Antonio
Pignatelli of Naples was planning on joining the Conclave in Rome sailing by
water. However, he was caught in a gale which forced him to take shelter
in the Gulf of Anzio. Here the generous citizens of the town welcomed him for
the time necessary to be able to return to the sea and reach Rome, carrying a
promise that, if he became the Pope of the Catholic Church, that he would build
the port of Anzio. That promise came true, as he was elected Pope Innocent XII.
After a few months of living in Rome, he recalled the promise and returned to
Anzio, this time by land, to lay the first stone of the new Port of Anzio near
the ruins of the ancient port of Nero! Today, the crew of Anzio Lavinio,
by winning the trophy for the second time may have the opportunity for a
three-peat performance next year! For more J/24 Italy sailing information
(Youngstown, NY)- 181 boats raced on five circles in the 40th and Final
Youngstown Level Regatta on the weekend of July 27-28. For most of its
history the Level has been the largest weekend keelboat regatta on Lake
Ontario, at one time hitting a monstrous 466 boats! Those were the
days of 50 boat J/24 fleets and one design starts for most of the J designs
popular at the time. Since then things had settled down to a more
manageable size but the Level still held a prominent place on the calendar for
most racers within hundreds of miles. Youngstown Yacht Club finally
decided 40 years was enough and the organizers and volunteers deserved a break,
so this was the last Level, to be replaced next year with a new event with
details to be announced this fall.
Sailors did not want to miss out on the fun of the final event so
attendance was up by almost 40 boats over 2012. Conditions were generally
favorable, light to moderate with the exception of a brief squall that came in
Saturday afternoon that curtailed racing for the day. Various J models
were entered in 9 of the 26 divisions, and the largest division in the event
was the J70 class with 17 boats. In IRC 0 Bob Hesse and crew aboard the
J111 Lake Effect lost the tie-breaker for first place, settling for second as
they had done in Key West in January. They have been dominating local
PHRF racing this summer. Stephen Trevitt in Crime Scene won the J35 class
by two points over Mark DePaul in Remarkable. In PHRF 1 the four J109s
took the top four places, with Robert Eckersley's Blue Streak finishing ahead
of Ed Werner in Moccasin and Murray Gainer in Lively. Mark Bowman's J29
FROB Untamed was second in PHRF 3 and second and third places in PHRF 4 were
taken by Mike Seitz in his J27 Northern Seitz over Dan Mather's very successful
J30 Crusader. The PHRF 7 division was made up of J22s and J24s, with Jack
Doyle in his J22 winning over the J24s of Kevin McAuley and Tom Raes. In
non spinnaker racing Doug Clarke's J35C Rogue Wave was second in M&J 1.
The headline J70 fleet enjoyed their first major one design event
on Lake Ontario with boats coming from Newport, the Chesapeake, Lake Erie,
Connecticut, New Jersey, Ontario, Indiana, Florida and various NY ports.
In addition several borrowed boats were helmed by out of town sailors,
including past J105 NA Champ Rolf Kaiser of San Francisco and long time J24
skipper Mark Pincus of Florida. Competition was stiff with 5 different
boats taking bullets over the 8 race series. In the end Kerry Klinger
edged out Marty Kullman by taking the final race, with Kris Werner finishing
third. This was Kris's first taste of real action in his new J70 and he
had J24 hotshot Rossi Milev aboard to help him get up to speed.
The regatta was judged to be a terrific success with many fond memories being
shared and praise was lavished on the volunteers for their years of hard
work. Everyone wants to know what YYC has our our sleeve for 2014 but we
aren't quite ready to announce the sequel just yet. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes @ TimWilkes.com.
For more Youngstown Level Regatta sailing information
